A Dex and Sloane (Thirds Series) Valentine's Day Special - Charlie Cochet

Sunday, 12 February 2017

A Dex and Sloane Valentine's Day Special

Where could he be?

Sloane stepped into the canteen, and looked around. Where had his boyfriend gotten to? It was always worrisome when Dex went missing. Who knew what mischief he’d get up to. Actually, Sloane knew. He’d witnessed plenty of instances where an unsupervised Dex resulted in chaos. It was especially worrisome when Dex was being secretive.

Did Dex really think Sloane hadn’t noticed him take Sloane’s keys that morning and sneak off to his car? He’d put something in the trunk, then when they’d arrived at work, he told Sloane he’d meet him upstairs. Sloane had changed into his uniform, and when he reached their office, still no Dex.

Spotting Cael and Rosa sipping hot drinks at one of the tables, Sloane headed over. “Hey, any of you seen or heard from Dex? I’ve been tried calling him on his com, but he’s not answering.”

Rosa looked thoughtful. “The last I saw him, he was with Hudson. I went to Hudson’s office to ask him about some supplies, and Dex was there.” She looked to Cael. “Have you seen him today?”

“About an hour ago when I went down to Unit Beta to follow up on some intel. He was by the canteen.”

“Thanks, guy.” Sloane headed back to Unit Alpha. On the way to his office, he was stopped by Letty.

“Hey, Sloane. Dex had been looking for you.”

Sloane threw his hands up. “For crying out loud. Where is he?”

Letty looked around. “He was here a second ago. Maybe he went back to your office.”

“Thanks.” If Dex wasn’t there, Sloane was just going to wait for him. He was getting tired of running around HQ. Why was Dex being so damn secretive? He walked into his office and figured he’d had his answer.

A large white foamboard poster was propped against his desk. It was a Valentine’s Day letter from Dex. They had plans tonight which included dinner, a movie, and a gift exchange. Sloane was looking forward to it. He hadn’t expecting Dex to do anything for him at work. It was incredibly sweet.

Reading it, Sloane couldn’t help his big smile or the way his heart did a little flip. That big dope. His boyfriend was just adorable. His earpiece beeped, and he answered.

“Brodie.”

“Did you get my present?” Dex asked, sounding excited.

Sloane chuckled as he took a seat behind his desk, and turned the letter toward him. “I did. I’m looking at it now. Though I gotta say, I’m not very good at Mad Libs.”

“Why would you need to be good at Mad Libs?”

“Because there’s a bunch of blank spaces where certain words should be.”

The colorful swear words that followed told Sloane those blank spaces shouldn’t be blank.

“I’m on my way,” Dex grumbled.

Several minutes later, the commotion outside his office drew Sloane’s attention, and he headed out into the bullpen to find Dex glaring accusingly at his fellow agents.

“All right, which one of you candy-bar-thieving jerkfaces is responsible for ruining my Valentine’s Day card?”

Candy bars. That made so much more sense now. Aw, Dex had made him a candy gram.

Just as he’d said the words, Ash walked by eating a Lion Bar. The irony was not lost on Sloane. Dex let out a gasp.

“You thief!”

Uh-oh. Dex lunged at Ash, and Sloane caught him before his screeching little spider monkey could crawl all over Ash to disembowel him, or at least attempt to.

“That was part of my boyfriend’s candy gram!”

Ash looked from Dex to Sloane to his candy bar before shrugging, taking another bite, and walking off. Sloane held on tight.

“Come back here, you—”

A candy bar wrapped crinkled behind them and they turned to find Hobbs tearing through a wrapper. When he realized Dex was staring at him, his eyes widened.

“Where did you get that?” Dex asked, thrusting a finger at Hobbs’s chocolate bar.

Hobbs motioned to his hair and made spikes then put his hand to his heart.

“That thieving little pineapple!”

Sloane let out a bark of laughter before he could stop himself. Dex stopped trying to get away from him and pouted.

“They ate your card, Sloane.” He pointed to their office, and Sloane followed him in. Dex fished his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it, and scrolled through his photos. “It was perfect.” He held the phone out to Sloane.

“Aw, baby, it was perfect. Thank you.” Sloane pulled Dex into his arms, and kissed him, smiling against Dex’s lips when Dex melted against him. “I promise it’s not ruined. You’re sweeter than any candy bar.” He nibbled on Dex’s ear. “I can’t wait to taste you tonight.”

In a matter of days, Dex has been kidnapped, tortured, killed, revived, become half-Therian, offered the chance to become a spy, and accepted a proposal to marry his jaguar Therian boyfriend, Sloane Brodie. It’s been a lot to take in, and although Dex is still trying to wrap his head around everything that’s happened, he knows he has to move forward. After the events of Smoke & Mirrors, Dex and Sloane find themselves in one of the most frightening situations of all: revealing the truth to their Destructive Delta family. When the dust settles, nothing will ever be the same, and it’s up to Dex to prove that in the face of change, the one thing that will always remain the same is family.

Author Bio

Charlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From adventurous agents and sexy shifters, to society gentlemen and hardboiled detectives, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!

Currently residing in Central Florida, Charlie is at the beck and call of a rascally Doxiepoo bent on world domination. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading, drawing, or watching movies. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.

That was brilliant, and Ash wandering by eating a Lion Bar made me LOL, I know Hobbs wouldn't have ruined the candygram so it had to be Ash who took the candy, good job Dex took a photo or it woulda been totally ruined.... So clever Charlie